Friday, May 16, 2008

My mom lives in a small town in western New York, called Clifton Springs. It was home to a popular spa around the turn of the century, thanks to a natural sulfur spring. People came from all over to soak in the therapeutic water, which was supposed to cure all kinds of things. Unfortunately for the town, medical science was unable to verify these claims, and eventually people realized they were just paying to sit in stinky water. Things have been a little slow ever since. So, I figured the least I could do is name a recipe after the place (and it rhymed).

Whenever I go home to visit, I usually indulge in some Buffalo chicken wings from a place called Emerson's. They have two flavors of wings; Buffalo-style, and sweet and sour. I've only had the later once and wasn't impressed. I'm just a traditionalist I guess. This week I got a craving for chicken wings, and since there isn’t a decent chicken wing place west of the Niagara River, I decided to make some myself.

I don't use a fryer, but have a great method for frying them in the oven. The surprising part was when I went to make the classic spicy sauce to glaze them, for some reason I remembered those sweet and sour wings, and decided to try something new. I came up with what turned out to be a deliciously sticky, ginger and garlic glaze. I really hope you give these a try. But, if garlic and ginger aren't your thing, at least use the oven method I demo, and glaze them with your favorite wing thing. Enjoy!

Seriously, I'm going to need more supplements than just a ginger garlic sauce. So, no bleu cheese and celery, now what. (No beer, either)-------------------------------------The full name for the spicy sauce is Sambal Oelek (O-Leck), I believe it's Indonesian.-------------------------------------No blue cheese, no celery...so many guidelines...and DAMNIT, IT AIN'T ASIAN. You want Asian wings? Do Teriyaki Wings or just plain fried wings (like they have on the Pu Pu Platter!)! Geez. (Sorry to get so upset...tired)

well, I love that you tailored this recipe to your own tastes! The problem with the turkey choice, besides the taste, is the fact that it doesnt have the skin like the wings which only lets a little of the flour stick. The turkey is "wetter" and too much flour made it doughier.

Next time skip the flour and maybe cook a bit less and then glaze with the sauce. They wont be crisp, but wont be doughy.

Hey Chef John, I just popped my first batch of wings into the oven and am about to make the sauce. The use of grated ginger reminded me of your use of "ginger paste" in a tube which I went searching for after reading the Caramel Chicken recipe (which I have made many times). I never was able to find ginger paste in my neck of the woods so I bought a bunch of fresh ginger and pureed it as much as possible in the food pro with a bit of water and then froze it in ice cube trays with small holes. I have a baggie full of ginger cubes which come in very handy - though I didn't get the idea from you, you were the inspiration! Thanks, April

Champion League final from Moscow on ESPN 2 at 2pm and I just put the wings in the oven. When I opened the cupboard I was surprised to learn I had only 1/2 cup of flour. I used 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup Gram flour... Am I in trouble? No time to do anything about it so fingers crossed!

ok! I took a picture of what was left. I don't have that "focus" technique that a photographer might. But here it is:http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x318/FairysPics/turkey.jpgyou can see that parts of the breading just came off because they were stuck to the pan :(

Chef John, Love the idea and want to try it but can't get that darn Brown Sugar over here in Germany. Help me because I always run into this "lack of brown sugar" problem. I can get "raw sugar" and it's brown just like the real Brn. Sugar but it don't seem to work right. I could also buy Sugar Beet brown syrup, kinda like molasses, but... So, work your magic and please give me a hot-tip for these hot wings!

quick question- if you were going to make these and take to a party. Do you suggest completing the whole process and reheating them- or do I bake at home reheat and prepare glaze at the party. Any ideas what might work the best?

wow...i'm 16 and sometimes i cook for my family and I just happen to have all of these ingredients. And really these are some of the best wings i have ever had!!! thank you for sharing your recipe because this is so delicious!!!

your recipe resulted in great tasting wings, crispy outside, moist inside, and the sauce was delicious. you have solved the mystery of cooking chicken wings! ps. is there another sauce to make, just for variety, have you developed a traditional chicken wing sauce?

I made these afer watching your video. I can't believe how great they tasted!!! Your video was very easy to follow. We ate all 5lbs in a half hour. One mistake I made was not spraying the tin foil with Pam so one batch was sticking to the tin foil and difficult to turn, the other turned ez. Thanks!!!!

I saw these on the internet on the day of the SuperBowl. I fixed them without the sauce...still tasty. I fixed them last night with the sauce and they are THE BOMB!!!! I want more recipies from this cook!!!!

I've been hooked on your site for awhile now, and I make dinner for the family (I'm the eldest daughter) every week or so and they love this recipe.

I have a tiny problem though. I made a recipe a long time ago, and everyone loved it, but I didn't write it down and can't find it anymore.

It was actually another cook's recipe, a link you gave to this great beer batter recipe. I cannot find the stupid thing. If you could point me in the direction of the link or the recipe that you posted it with, that would really help.

This is a really gr8 recipe..i was craving for wings for the past couple of days after my month long vegetarian diet..not able to find an exciting recipe..and then i came across this one...Amazing recipe..and I made it two days in a row...

Hi Chef John...my son and I just made these wings and they are the best dam(excuse my language) wings I've ever had!!! OMG they are sooooooooooooo yummy , thanks for the recipe and I will be making these wings from now on!!! If anyone out there hasn't tried these you better!! love your site also!!!!

I’ve made this recipe twice so far. The first time I followed this recipe to the T with the exception of not adding ginger. The second time I did the same thing but BBQ’d the wings on the grill on a very low heat and the results were virtually identical.

A friend and I made these tonight (well, half a batch of these, half a batch of traditional buffalo wings). I didn't have any big boy ginger, so I used the ground stuff... sorry. I also forgot to add in veg oil to the wings before dredging, but they seemed to cook up fine (still crisp). The glaze was good, but I've never been that big a fan of sticky/sweet wings. I totally dig the method of cooking though, and will use it every time I crave some wings.

Hey Chef John, great recipe! And not to forget, the actual cooking movie on youtube channel is very amusing to watch.

My first batch was -however- a failure, the flour didn't seem to brown evenly, instead some spots got burned (and yes I followed the instructions)and it never turned nice and brown, more dark yellow. I used regular wheat flour.

And for the sauce, well I guess here in Holland we do not have the kind of brown sugar that you use, I think that yours is less sweet, since one cup of brown sugar turned my wings into something that reminds me of caramelised popcorn...all of a sudden my wife has become a chickenwing fan, amazing..

Do you have any tips to make to wings just as crispy and brown as yours?

Chef,The wings were crispy and rich with flavor from the sauce I whipped up with some left over condiments from fridge. Kids loved them but there was some of that "uncooked floury" feel although I dredged the wings as instructed.Has that happened to you? Recommendations?Really appreciated it.

Chef John,I live in Clifton Springs and I think you are talking about Eversons not Emersons. Also when you are in town you have to go to the Half Way House and order the house sauce. That is the best.Steve H

I made these oven-fried wings and left them plain. Family went crazy over them! All the great flavor of fried chicken without the mess! Thanks, Chef. You've brought one of my favorite foods back into my life.

p.s. I forgot to sprinkle the oil on the chicken before flouring and they still turned out great.

First all I must say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! I came upon your site one day and I am totally addicted! I have been cooking from scratch everyday now for a week! I also have turned on my girlfriends to your site, they too love it. I must say that these chicken wings are the absolute "BOMB" I cant believe I made them in my oven! The sauce is out of this world, i actually wanted more of the sauce to dip in (no blue cheese either, which I might add I am a fan of) but, no blue cheese is needed here! Thanks again for such a wonderful site, hum....what shall I make today?

I want to ask you how spicy is this recipe? I want to make this to a potluck but some of my friends can't eat too spicy. Or do you have any suggestion to make it tastes as good without to spiciness? Thanks!

I found this recipe last week after seeing your 'how to eat chicken wings' video. I am so eager to make these even my wife is asking me what day I plan to make them. I have a question, if I start with frozen 'party wings' should I thaw them first? I plan to make them tonight so I'm sure I won't get an answer before I do but would like to know your advice. Thanks again! I'll check back in to tell you how well they went!!

My eight yr. old daughter said, "When you and mommy die, I want you to pass on this recipe to me for my kids". After I told her that I did not come up with this one myself she didn't care at all and ate yet another wing in my face to prove it. This dish was so tasty that it was worth it's 'wait' in gold. I served this with an asian slaw that took longer to make then the chicken - but even my tired tots were all over this dish!!! They are normally not into spicy food but this was a perfect blend of sweet, slight tart, and (mild) spice. 6 out of 5 stars for this one. I am now a follower to all your dishes!! Oh I did end up thawing the chicken, thanks again for responding so quickly! My family drooled for my buffalo wings, but absolutlely chomped at the bit for these tastey morsels!!

Thanks so much for sharing this recipe! I love the taste of fried wings but hate frying them. I made these tonight and my husband and children LOVED the wings and asked if I could make them again tomorrow :)

I do have one question. I would like to take a little bit of the vinegar taste out of the wings. Is there something to do to accomplish this? Thank you so much for a great wing recipe that beats just about all the wing places around here.

Stumbled across you on youtube! Had stop by your blog because my mom is from Clifton Springs. Sure enough, you were referring to the same 'Springs. I still have cousins there. I look forward to trying your yummy-sounding glaze and oven frying method.

I did this recipe today. I'm glad my friends liked it. I used 5lbs fresh 'drums' of the wings. I don't think it had enough s&p seasoning. Also, the wings turned out crispy but a tad dry. I'm thinking maybe the 2nd 30minutes should be maybe 20 minutes or lower the temp for 2nd half of baking time? Can you be more specific on the s&p seasoning please?(new fan here)

I just returned from a pre-Super Bowl Party where my appetizer was the Clifton Springs Chix Wings. Our group of friends are wing connoisseurs. Everyone raved about their delicious flavor and unique taste. They were the hit of the party!!Everyone has thier own likes and dislikes. I followed the recipe to the T. However to my taste they were not spicy hot enough. Next time I will add more hot sauce as I think they will even be better. Thank you Chef John.

Chef John, This is truely a great recipe. Thank you soooo much for sharing it. I'm very picky and hesitant to try random recipes online outside of the major known sources but these were truely great. Almost every person at our party said these were the best wings they ever had. Thanks.

I just came back from the kitchen and I have to say these chicken wings are great! I'm from Sweden so I cannot make them the way you do since some of the ingredients cannot be purchased in this country.

But I found another kind of hot sauce and chili sauce and I minced the ginger myself. "Spray-fat" is unheard of in this country so I just poured out some oil on the foil and brushed the tops of the wings with oil and it comes out GREAT!

Thanks to the instructions on how to eat wings the flat is now my favorite part! And these wings do NOT need to be dipped. (However they go great along with blue cheese...)

Hello Chef John, I must say these wings are the greatest - no words to describe them. My family and friends can't get enough of them! Even a friend working in a small wings restaurant claims these are far better than what they sell. Can't beat home cooking. Thank you so much, Chef Juan.

Hello Chef John, I love your food blog, I even voted for you and I'm so happy you Won! I tried your wings today and boyfriend loved them. We wanted to try something new and save money so we did a drive thru movie and we ate the wings watching Clash of Titans. I had left over sauce because i didn't want them to sweet and sticky. So next wkend I'll make them again... great wings and congrats again!

I found this recipe this morning and made it for dinner. WE LOVE IT!! Thanks so much for showing me how to oven fry a chicken wing. They were delish....Hope it's ok to link back to your blog. I want to share this recipe with everyone. Next time I might use a different sauce...but that oven fry technique is a keeper..

I've got a couple questions actually, because I don't have or couldn't find some of those ingredients for the wings (chili sauce, rice vinegar), nor can I, unfortunately, handle hot/spicy stuff or ginger.

Instead of using rice vinegar and chili sauce for the glaze, is there something else I can use instead? Would olive oil work? I kind of would like to try and make a garlicy-parmesan glaze.

And, instead of the Frank's hot sauce for the wings before dredging them, is there something else I could use instead?

Anyway, I noticed that in most of your recipes, instead of using powdered ginger (understandable) or grated ginger you tend to use a ginger puree type thing. I'm just curious how you prepare it (just blend some ginger?).

Good evening. I can't wait to go home for the winter break and make these wings. I'd like your opinion on something though.

I'm thinking of using Sriracha in place of Frank's. Then i will use MORE Sriracha in place of the Sambal. Im also going to leave the chicken wing completely whole, ala chinese takeout style.

Love chicken wings, was never a fan of the whole vinegar taste though. What do you think?

By the way, i've tried a couple of your recipes thus far, and they have been super effective with the guests. I think im going to pair this recipe with the chocolate lava cake on christmas dinner, i dont care how much it might not mix. Imma do it.

This recipie is absolutely delicious. I've never cooked wings at 400 degrees, but they turned out perfectly, crispy on the outside and moist and delicious inside. To put it frankly, we tore those wings up!! I am making them again tonight and came to the website for a quick review. Thanks so much for the great recipie!

These wings are amazing! Quick question. I want to make them for a new years party i am going to, and was wondering what all i can do here at home to make preparing them there easy and quicker. Thanks!

Chef John, it's an honor. I found your website by looking up ways to seed a pomegranate for the holidays. Now I'm completely hooked. Thank you for your wonderful blog - it has been a blessing. This was my first recipe, and it was phenomenal. I love your clear instructions, your humor, and quality of video. I made these for a new year's party, I took no credit for the accolades. I thanked Chef John. And the other night I made them for my wife and kids, but used tenderloins (she's not a big fan of bones, tendons, skin; you know all the yummy parts). But they were too dry, do I just reduce the time in the oven? Thank you!

Chef I'm amazed that you still reply to comments on such old blog posts :) I'm a subscriber for a while now, just wanted to say I love your recipes and sense of humor :)One question though - you already answered that partly in the comments above but - what are the ingredients of this Frank's Hot sauce? I'm from Poland so no sight of it here :) Should I just put some paprika or try to make my own Frank's sauce :>BTW, I remember (I might be mistaken) you making polish pierogi once -> that's a classic, only don't fry them but try boiling - tender and delicious with some diced fried bacon (or your "fake bacon" would be perfect) and onions (also from a pan :) ). They are either with potato/cheese mix or traditionally for Chrismas Eve with mushrooms.Wow that's a huge post ;)Cheers!

wow i just saw the video for these on youtube, and i am so relieved to have FINALLY found a yummy chicken wing recipe that is not fried. this looks sooo good and i definitely will be trying these oven fried wings.

Chef John, it's an honor - as always. I've now tried 3 of your wing recipes for large parties, all a HUGE hit. Of course, I give you ALL credit (ok, maybe I take a little...). They have all the flavor, all the yummyness; however all the wings, (panda, clifton, mustard) are coming out soggy. I don't have the tightness that I see in your photos and videos. What am I doing wrong? I am a blank canvas - instruct me....

I finally got around to making them. They were fantastic! (I didn't use the Sambal, but I will next time - I missed the little spicy kick.) I had thought the 1 hour of cooking time would be too much, but I was wrong. They were crispy on the outside, and the chicken was falling off the bone. Thanks for a great recipe.

I just made these after a friend made them for our Super Bowl party - loved the recipe, so had to try it...I, however, used chicken drumsticks...I baked them in a glass dish (covered and then uncovered), and then poured the sauce over them while they were still in the glass pan. The chicken soaked up the garlic/ginger sauce, and it was fabulous...:) thank you for sharing!

I'm 13, and I usually make dinner for the family, and I try a lot of wing recipes, and this is very delicious! My family really like ginger and garlic sauces adn this was perfect! It is very sweet, and I used white vinegar, but I don't think it would make too much of a difference. Very good. You have more wing recipes, right? Because I need to try them!

Looks good as always Chef, I've made two of your wing recipes and they have been awesome. Looks like I will be making these soon. FYI, you should never use trash bags, they are not made with food grade plastic. Glad makes 2 gal ziplock bags now, they are huge and can hold a lot of food.

Hello from the sunny Florida gulf coast. I've got these in the oven right now and they look fabulous. The sauce by itself tastes fantastic (I've also made a second sauce, a bourbon-honey-bbq sauce with Makers)

Just wanted to say thanks for the recipe and excellent job on the video instructions. Top marks!

Thanks to no end for this recipe! I tried a variation; I excluded the ginger and substituted roasted, seeded and chopped New Mexican green chili peppers (about 6 ounces) for the chili sauce. The results were fantastic (IMHO).

Great recipe. However, I felt they weren't very hot with the Franks Hot Sauce. The second time around I think I am going to make a light marinade of Soy Sauce, Ginger and Garlic and let them sit overnight or at least 6 hours. It will give them a bit more asian depth that applying sauce to the surface won't give. I am also going to use red pepper flake with the Frank's Red Hot. Other then that, delicious!

Thanks for your recipe. I had a go and it was very successful in many ways, but I messed up somehow. The meat was juicy and tender and the sauce was amazing, but the coating turned out powdery. Where did I make my mistake? I used Olive oil spray instead of the veg oil, since that is what we had in our pantry. Could that have been it?

Can these wings be deep fried? I wanted to use this recipe for a family 'wing cook-off' and there will just be deep fryers. Also, would it be OK to take the sauce, already made, to put on the chicken after it's fried?

Just lovely and so easy. I just made it for dinner and everyone loved it.... even my non-chicken wing eating mother! I followed the recipe pretty much but I used fresh garlic and ginger. I think using fresh didn't make any difference, next time I'll use a jar because the pungent vinegar taste masked the fresh taste.

I'm in Australia & we don't have Frank's hot sauce so I used sriracha as a substitute.

I just made these as a test round for the Superbowl this year and while they were VERY good, I did find them to not have a flavor that really stood out. Maybe it was because I used only hot pepper flakes and not a chili paste? Ah well, either way, I am SO making these again, just gonna tweak it. Oh, and it is now a rule in my house that if you make wings, you HAVE to use this dredge and bake method! :-D

how do you know sambal oelek? I am from indonesia and always have it as basic ingredients. your recipe makes it easy for me ... just curious how you know because not many people know about this sambal. Thanks for introducing this sambal to public. That is awesome!